 First edition of Freud's Studies in Hysteria.
| Time
| 1890 |
| Title
| Sigmund Freud publishes Studies in Hysteria |
| Event
| Studies in Hysteria is a seminal work on the mind/body connection, and establishes Freud as “the father of psychoanalysis.” Freud theorizes that when the mind is fearful, and overly emotional (i.e. hysterical), a person might imagine experiencing disease symptoms. Freud also develops techniques of free association and dream interpretation, which are core tenets of psychoanalysis and establishes psychoanalysis as a legitimate clinical science. |
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Trained originally as a neuroanatomist, Freud attempts to ground his theories in neurophysiology, but abandons the effort because not enough is known about the physical brain. Still, Freud does theorize that his patients' physical symptoms are the direct result of strong feelings repressed in the unconscious mind.
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Freud diagnoses patients with a fearful emotional mental state as hysterical. This emotional state results in physical discomfort or illness, usually involving a specific body part. People who are "hysterical" are believed to lose self-control due to this overwhelming fear.
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Freud is an active unbeliever in spirituality of any kind, adhering to the idea that all physiological processes can ultimately be explained by physics and chemistry.
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